Four boys, their mom, and her cello . . . and now a little sister!

Good or bad?

September 23, 2008

Right in the middle of our Latin dvd lesson yesterday, the tv died. Finally. We were trying to figure out how old it is. We inherited it from my great-great-aunt and I have no idea how long she owned it before we started using it (when we moved into her house after she went into a rest home.) It’s at least 10 years old, but honestly I don’t know.

So now the big question is, is this a good or a bad thing? Do we replace it?

A year ago, I would have said, “Yes! No more tv, what a wonderful thing!” But that was back when the kids were more than a bit hooked on it. “Thomas (the Tank Engine) is on every day at 2:30, Mom. We can’t miss it!” I do not mind Thomas at all, it’s about the only kids’ show I can stand. But then KBYU started alternating Thomas and Bob the Builder. I despise Bob the Builder. I can’t stand him! And it started to feel like every afternoon revolved around being home and in front of the tv at 2:30, which was a real pain. And entirely my fault because I let it happen.

So this summer, I purposely started filling our afternoons with outings and activities. Occasionally someone would say, “Hey, we missed Bob today.” And I would remind them that we went to the library (or park, or shopping, or the zoo) and wasn’t that so much more fun anyway?! It worked! By the time we started school, they were hardly asking to watch tv at all. (Also KBYU changed their schedule and Bob is now on at 7 a.m. before everyone is up, how great is that?) When discussing rewards and discipline issues a few weeks back, DH said we could always take away tv time for bad behavior. I had to tell him that we don’t really watch tv anymore, so that wasn’t an option.

Now tv has become a great treat, and not one they even ask for very often. It’s so wonderful. We use it for school videos, but not during our morning schooltime (except for Latin) and as a privilege now.

It seems weird since we hardly use it, but I want a new one. Part of me wants to go tv-free, but it’s nice to have it when we want it. I like watching videos for school, I’m a very visual learner and like that reinforcement after we read about something. While we can watch them on the computer, it’s so much more fun (and comfortable) to cuddle on the couch in front of the tv together. And because we’re not tempted by it, I don’t mind having it around like I used to. I never turn it on of my own accord although DH and I like to watch movies together while I get my cross-stitch time in. Plus LDS General Conference is in 2 weeks and I want my television for that! If I could go to the conference center I would, but I can’t, so I want to be able to watch it in comfort at home.

So yes, we will get a new one. We actually have the cash right now too which is a blessing.

I have that love/hate relationship with the tv too. I would love to go tv free but there are some things I like to watch as well as movies. I limit and select what the kids watch. My husband will watch anything but we are getting better. The tv used to be on all the time, now we make deliberate choices about what we watch and what we don’t.

I love movies too much to go tv free. We rarely watch actual television and don’t have cable so pbs and a few of the networks are all that come in. We usually watch DVD’s and they are a welcome distraction at times. And after a hard day, I love lounging in front of the t.v watching a good BBC costume drama or a old classic.

We have the same trouble. I love the TV for watching movies and conference, oh and FOX News but hate when the kids get hooked on a tv program. They have found they can watch episodes on the computer. So we have to resort to the coupon system for tv and computer so that they aren’t on all the time.